This invention relates to a portable workstool and more particularly to a portable workstool which provides for ergonomic storage and use of tools with optimum space-efficiency.
Workstools have played a very important role in many practical endeavors. Electricians, fishermen and gardeners are only three obvious examples of the nearly infinite uses of the workstool. The conventional workstool, or campstool, suffers from several deficiencies. First, it is not conveniently portable because after folding, it must be separately carried, e.g. by the frame, and so tools or other articles must be separately carried by the user. Further, any tools used must be placed on the ground or stored on some other adaptive surface. This can be inconvenient for three major reasons. First, if there is no suitable storage area for the tools nearby, it may be necessary to place them more than arm""s length away, for example in an uneven or tight working space. Secondly, if the tools are placed on the ground, the user must bend over to store or retrieve the tool and such action is often ergonomically undesirable or even impractical. Third, even if the tools may be stored close by, the storage or retrieval of such tools may require visual inspection. In other words, the user may have to glance away from his work site to the general location of the tool storage area in order to retrieve or replace the tool. This is also often undesirable or even impractical with detailed work. What is needed is a workstool which is not only easily portable but one which is functionally superior to a conventional workstool by virtue of being ergonomically advantageous and space-efficient in the utilization of tools.
In accordance with the present invention, a portable workstool provides convenient portability, ergonomic storage and space-efficiency when in use. The portable workstool is suitable for carrying or use by a human subject, the stoolmember utilizing both a frame and a pad. The frame includes a firs rectangular leg and a second rectangular leg pivotally interconnected. The pad presents a die-cut pattern to form two sleeves slidably connected to the first leg and two sleeves slidably connected to the second leg. The workstool also features a detachable pouch having a substrate with a left side, a right side and a ground side, as well as first and second handles. The pouch also includes fastening structure configured to attach to the four sleeves. The left side and the right side of the pouch each contain a pocket. In preferred embodiments each pocket has a plurality of cells, e.g. three cells on each side.
In functional mode, the two legs are pivoted so that the pad is taut. The two legs are, in effect, placed on a planar surface such as the ground. The taut pad may be securely sat upon with the pouch providing ergonomic and convenient access to the pockets. The workstool is space efficient because the pockets are disposed beneath the human subject.